Search Exotic Incidents Database

Three “pet” emus escaped from their home. One was recaptured but the other two were still on the loose.

Phoenix, a 23-year-old bobcat, was euthanized due to kidney problems. The pathology report after her death concluded that the kidneys were not at “end stage” but that she could not walk because her claws had grown into her paw pads.

An 18-year-old female African elephant knocked her handler to the ground with her head and crushed him to death. The incident occurred at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium during a routine morning walk of the elephant and her 3-year-old baby on the zoo’s African Savannah trail before the zoo opened.

A 1-year-old wolf-hybrid was recaptured after running loose and killing a neighbor’s chicken. He was scheduled to be put to death.

A man was bitten on the lip when he attempted to kiss his “pet” rattlesnake.

A “pet” bear escaped from his home and was loose for a brief period of time before he was recaptured.

Two “pet” coatimundis were on the loose in a Milwaukee neighborhood after they escaped from their home.

Two tiger cubs were loose on a neighbor’s roof. They were subsequently recaptured.

A woman discovered an 8-ft-long “pet” python in her backyard.

Samson, a 500-lb African lion at Knoll’s 77 Zoological Park, attacked a zookeeper who entered his cage for a photo. The lion grabbed the man, threw him into a corner, and chewed on him before releasing the man. The zookeeper had a hole ripped in his throat, his right eye pulled out of its socket, severed tendons in his neck and chest, torn skin, and bites down to the bone. He was listed in critical condition for 11 days. He lost 80% of his eyesight and needed an operation to restore his vision. He had trained large animals since the age of 12 when he began training bears in a circus in Europe.